Maintenance azithromycin therapy for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome: results of a pilot study.
Publication/Presentation Date
7-1-2003
Abstract
Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the pulmonary transplant population. Previous studies show that macrolide antibiotics may be efficacious in the treatment of panbronchiolitis and cystic fibrosis. In the latter, azithromycin decreases the number of respiratory exacerbations, improves FEV1, and improves quality of life. We hypothesized that oral azithromycin therapy may improve lung function in patients with bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. To test this hypothesis, we conducted an open-label pilot trial using maintenance azithromycin therapy in six lung transplant recipients (250 mg orally three times per week for a mean of 13.7 weeks). In this study, five of these six individuals demonstrated significant improvement in pulmonary function, as assessed by FEV1, as compared with their baseline values at the start of azithromycin therapy. The mean increase in the percentage of predicted FEV1 values in these individuals was 17.1% (p
Volume
168
Issue
1
First Page
121
Last Page
125
ISSN
1073-449X
Published In/Presented At
Gerhardt, S. G., McDyer, J. F., Girgis, R. E., Conte, J. V., Yang, S. C., & Orens, J. B. (2003). Maintenance azithromycin therapy for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome: results of a pilot study. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 168(1), 121–125. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.200212-1424BC
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
12672648
Department(s)
Department of Medicine
Document Type
Article